Final Fantasy VII- Book One
by connor fantasy
Summary: An in-depth novelization of Final Fantasy VII featuring all/most of the main storyline and all of the sidequests, plus all the characters. My story will be split into parts with part 1 being Midgar and part 2 being Cloud's story. Book One will be the whole of disk one.
1. Mako Reactor 1 (Part 1)

Final Fantasy VII

Part 1: Midgar

Chapter 1: Mako Reactor 1

The life of the planet was being sucked dry.

The Shinra Company was polluting and destroying the world.

The world was dying.

A young woman 22 years old named Aeris Gainsborough was kneeling in the middle of a dark alley. She was looking through the window of an old battered, abandoned shop. Green sparks of energy known as mako was falling from a broken pipe, which floated in the air before disappearing all together. Aeris looked down thinking and listening.

All of a sudden, Aeris turned her head to the left breaking her out of her trance. With one last glance at the continuing flow of mako dropping out of the pipe. She started walking down the alley, with her long brown/mahogany hair swaying behind her which was tied in a curled ponytail secured by a pink ribbon and a glowing white ball. Aeris was carrying a reed basket filled with freshly grown flowers that were in full bloom. Whilst she was walking her long pink dress flowed gently around her brown boots and over the top of her dress she wore a dark red jacket.

After waling for a little bit, she emerged from the dark alley onto the steet, stopping quickly as a large motorbike zoomed past her almost hitting her. She looked around for a moment seeing people continuing to walk not even acknowledging what had just happened.

The street was just as dark as the alley, for the night was already set in the sky. But even in daytime the city was dark, that's just what Midgar was like. It was a cold and dark city but strangely it was always presented to people as the town where dreams were made, the city was the starting point for the whole world.

The city was shaped like a giant circle and was split into eight sectors by large walls of metal and eight separate reactors bordering each corner and one for each sector. The reactors sucked up energy from the ground below which was used for the people who lived in the city's everyday lives. In the middle of the city was a large tower, 70 floors high, which was much taller and thinner than the reactors and inside the tower was where President Shinra and his workers lived, managing the city in it's well secured safety.

Midgar had two levels. The upper level was on top of the eight sectors in view of the sky, and was in general more well-run. The buildings were secured and actually designed well, whereas with the lower level known as the slums, people were very poor and the homes were made out of anything the inhabitants could find. The people on the higher level didn't care at all about the people living the slums and they generally didn't think about them at all.

At this moment the 11:30 train was just pulling into the station in sector one which was close to the mako reactor. It was very quiet on the platform with only two Shinra guards in red uniforms. They weren't expecting anything to happen, so they were surprised when they saw a train pull up at the station.

Whilst the soldiers weren't looking, a figure suddenly stood up on the top of the train. His name was Biggs and he was tall and wore a sleeveless green shirt with dark black trousers with matching boots. His hair was dark brown and he had a single red band tied around his head.

Biggs jumped up off the top of the train and landed strongly and loudly on the platform. Immediately one of the soldiers ran at him but Biggs easily anticipated his move and grabbed him by his shoulder and threw him behind him onto the concrete floor behind him knocking him out.

The other soldier saw this happen and started running at him, focusing all his attention on Biggs and because of this he didn't see another figure come out of the train. This person kicked the soldiers right in the chest knocking him out cold. The new arrival was a woman, her name was Jesse, she had long brown hair that was tied back in a ponytail, she also had a black band tied around her head. She was wearing a grey top and black trousers.

Then a third figure exited the train, a man named Wedge. Wedge was bigger than both Biggs and Jesse but not very tall. He was wearing a yellow T-shirt and black trousers and he had short black hair. Unlike the others he had a nervous expression on his face.

The final two members of the team named Barret and Cloud exited the train. Barret was the leader of the group and he had a small black beard and black hair and he a gun grafted onto his arm from an injury. Cloud however was much younger than all the other members of the group, he wore a purple Shinra uniform, and attached to his back was the Buster Sword a powerful weapon that easily could cut objects in half. He had spiky blond hair and stunning blue eyes which easily told anyone who saw him that he had been infused with mako.

"Come on, newcomer." Barret said cloud clearly not trusting him yet "follow me." Barret then turned away from Cloud and ran off following his other three colleagues who had run off already and through an open door just a few seconds before.

Cloud started to follow Barret and he had only just got past the first unconscious soldier when another door opened and two soldiers came running out of it both wielding machine guns. Cloud grabbed his sword and charged at the two soldiers using his sword to cut their machine guns in half and then grabbed them both and slammed them against the train knocking them both out. Cloud then continued on his way following the path Barret took.

Biggs, Wedge and Jessie were all waiting in the next alley. Biggs was standing guard, Wedge was pacing back and forth nervously and Jesse was trying to break the lock on the electronic keypad so they get through the metal door preventing their access to the reactor.

When Cloud finally reached them, Biggs looked at him and smiled saying "Wow, you used to be in SOLDIER all right, not every day you find one in a group like AVALANCHE." At this Jesse stopped working and said "SOLDIER. Aren't they the enemy? What's he doing with us in AVALANCHE?" Biggs stopped her before she could go any further and said "Hold it, Jesse. He WAS in SOLDIER. He quit them and he is now one of us."

Jesse nodded her head and went back to the keypad. Meanwhile Biggs said "Didn't catch your name…" Cloud just looked ahead and said "Cloud." Biggs then said "Cloud, eh? I'm…" Cloud quickly interrupted saying "I don't care what your names are. Once this job's over, I'm outta here." Biggs was slightly upset at Cloud's response and then Barret ran up to them from one of the side allies with an angry expression on his face. "The hell you all doin'!? I thought I told you never to move in a group!" Barret raged angrily

Biggs, Wedge and Jessie flinched at Barret's angry voice. Cloud looked at Biggs, Wedge and Jessie and from the expressions on their faces he got the feeling that Barret shouts at them a lot. After Barret finished blowing off some steam he said "Our target's the North mako reactor, we'll meet on the bridge in front of it."

When Barret finished talking, there was a loud click from the door as Jesse finally cracked the code and the large metal doors began to slide open. Once the doors opened fully, Biggs, Wedge and Jessie ran ahead before Barret told them to do anything. Barret moved slightly but turned around and said to Cloud "Ex-SOLDIER, huh? Don't trust ya!" Barret then ran on ahead leaving Cloud alone. Cloud was expecting Barret to do something like this and just ran on ahead after him, not even caring about what Barret said.

Cloud dashed along the alleyways avoiding the security cameras until he entered the building which was just beneath the reactor tower. Once inside, Cloud thought that it was too quite but then he saw two Shinra soldiers laying unconscious on the floor and realised why. The five team members were on the middle of the T-junction bridge, if they were to head to the right they would go back to where they just came from, if they were to head left they would find the escape route that Barret had just sent Wedge to guard. But the remaining four members were heading up into the reactor complex itself.

The four remaining group members ran into the reactor and once inside Biggs went to work on another electronic keypad, whilst Jesse stood waiting for any Shinra soldiers and Barret and Cloud stood facing each other not effected by anything that had happened so far. "Yo, this your first time in a reactor?" Barret said. Cloud looked impassive and said "No, after all I did work for Shinra, y'know."

The mere reminder of who Cloud used to work for brought a scowl onto Barret's face and made Jessie worry if this was a trap. "The planet's full of mako energy. People here use it everyday." Barret said giving Cloud a rundown of the situation. Cloud shrugged his shoulders not really caring about what Barret was saying. This frustrated Barret who then said "It's the life blood of the planet, but Shinra keeps sucking the blood out with these weird machines."

Cloud sighed saying "I'm not here for a lecture. Let's just hurry." Barret clenched his fists and said "That's it, you're coming with me from now on." Just then Biggs typed in the right code for the door and it opened. The four members went into the next room and Jesse quickly typed a code into the door and it opened on the first time. Cloud, Barret and Jesse went ahead but Biggs stayed behind after being told by Barret to stay there as a lookout.

Jesse ran over to the other side of the room and pressed the button for the elevator that will take them into the core of the reactor. The three of them entered the elevator and Cloud pressed another button that took them down into the core. As the elevator began to move, Barret said "Little by little the reactors'll drain out all the life, and that'll be that." Barret said trying to make Cloud understand. "It's not my problem." Cloud said not caring at all. "The planet's dyin', Cloud!" Cloud turned to Barret and said "The only thing I care about is finishing this job before security and the roboguards come."

Barret clenched his fists and turned away from Cloud trying to resist the urge to punch him and just concentrating on completing the mission.

**Author's Note: That's Chapter 1 done. I thought I'd try to a Final Fantasy 7 novelisation since it's my second favourite game in the Final Fantasy franchise after Final Fantasy 9. This is the second time I will have published this chapter because I deleted my Final Fantasy VII novelization the first time but this time I am going to try and complete it. Please review my story and if I get 3 reviews I will update on Thursday. Till next time, Connor Fantasy.**


	2. Mako Reactor 1 (Part 2)

Final Fantasy VII

Part 1: Midgar

Chapter 2: Mako Reactor 1 (Part 2)

Cloud, Barret and Jessie fell silent as the lift went down further into the reactor complex. All the way down, Barret refused to even look at Cloud, absolutely fuming at Clouds disregard and zero concern for the life of the planet.

To be honest, Cloud couldn't care less about Barret, Biggs, Wedge and Jessie. He knew far much more about Shinra and its reactors- far more than the likes of Barret and AVALANCHE and all the other terrorist groups. He knew what sort of security there would be within the reactor, and he knew the fact that no matter how much research Barret and the rest of AVALANCHE did, they would never understand the truth behind Shinra's reactors.

At that precise moment, the lift gave an abrupt shudder as it came to a stop on the level below, and the door slid open. Straight away, before Cloud and Barret could react, Jessie ran through to the section beyond. Barret glared at Cloud and nodded his head towards the door asking Cloud to go first. Cloud got the impression that Barret didn't trust him still and that his comment earlier was earning him any favours. Cloud sighed and then ran through the door of the lift, with Barret following just behind him.

The next area was part of the main reactor system. There was a large metal structure in the middle of the hall, which was immensely tall, so tall that it even touched the ceiling. There were a number of large pipes flowing all around the area, going into the walls and the floor, pumping power throughout the whole facility. The whole place looked like a trap within itself, which was why the maintenance was so important. One thing could go wrong and the entire place would be destroyed in a giant explosion.

A set of stairs wrapped their way around the entire metal structure, which Cloud, Barret and Jessie were hurriedly making their way down. Time was of the essence in this mission because they had no idea when the guards would be alerted and they would have to fight their way to their destination and back out of the reactor. There was a single door at the bottom of the stairs, leading into another chamber which Jessie bashed open and ran through with Cloud following her through and Barret at the back.

Now they were in the real centre of the reactor. Jessie had managed to sneakily and successfully hack into the Shinra database and because of this she knew the interior of the reactor quite well, so she led the way as they entered the centre of the reactor itself and began to walk across the grids. The only was further was by going down a number of angled ladders at the end of the grids.

Jessie's stop was here, so when Cloud and Barret climbed down another ladder to go further into the centre of the reactor complex, Jessie stood guard so no one could stop Cloud and Barret. Now it was Barret's turn to lead the way, whilst keeping a close eye on Cloud.

The AVALANCHE leader grabbed hold of the next ladder and climbed down it onto to a curved pipe which he and Cloud followed round to another ladder which leads to a straight pathway where the reactor engine was based.

Together Barret and Cloud walked down the long walkway towards the reactor. On either side, there was a long drop towards the bottom. More pipes were gathered there, and clouds of a turquoise coloured steam/lake prevented them from seeing what lay at the very bottom.

The reactor engine lay just ahead of them. It wasn't very big in itself, for it was just a large cylinder which was half-way stuck out of the wall, with faded, writing scribbled over its surface. Of course within the wall there would be numerous controls designed for sucking out the Mako and converting it into energy to power the city, but that wasn't what they were interested in, Cloud and Barret couldn't care less about what it did to the energy. The only thing they were interested in was the reactor and its engine that they wanted.

As they approached, Cloud spotted something out of the corner, laid on the pathway just a few footsteps away from the reactor engine. It was a small green ball about the size of a grape, and looked at first like a small stone, although there was a strange kind of shimmering glow to it. Cloud knew what it was straight away. It was known as Materia. It was a ball of compressed Mako energy that had been released from the reactor. Each bit of Materia had a different use. The materia on the floor was magic materia, and Cloud recognised as restore materia which allowed the user to cast the cure spell. Cloud actually had two pieces of similar-looking Materia himself, slotted in special slots the black armlet he wore around the base of his black gloves. Two more slots were embedded on the blade of his sword. Cloud's Materia were magic materia which allowed him to cast the ice and bolt spell.

Barret also spotted the Materia on the floor, just after Cloud. He took a quick glance at the ex-SOLDIER, before he swiftly reached down and picked the Materia up, putting it safely in his pocket so Cloud could not get it. Cloud looked back at him blankly, not really bothered. Barret glared at Cloud angrily, and then walked up towards the reactor in front of them.

"When we blow this place, this ain't gonna be more than a hunka junk!" he said to Cloud as he looked up at the reactor. There was a strong sense of anger and hatred in his voice as he spoke about the reactor; similarly like the way he spoke to Cloud. Barret turned around and pointed to Cloud saying "Cloud, you set the bomb." "Shouldn't you do it?" asked Cloud.  
"Just do it!" Barret shouted suddenly, waving his strong arms angrily in the air. "I gotta watch to make sure you don't pull nothin'!" Cloud sighed heavily in frustration and exhaustion at Barret's continual non-stop anger towards him. "Fine. Be my guest," he muttered.

He took a step forward, but all of a sudden he stopped. He froze to the spot, his muscles tightening harshly as though they were crushing together. The effect of the crushing pain causing Cloud to fall down to the floor in agonizing pain. A wave of cold ran through his veins, although he was not afraid. At the same time a high- pitched screeching sound began to ring throughout in his ears.

_Watch out!_

_This isn't just a reactor!_

The whistling faded, and Cloud felt his muscles relax and let him breathe once again. Surprised, Cloud stepped back and shook his head, shaking off that peculiar feeling that he had just experienced. There had been no voice the way he would describe a voice, and he wasn't sure whether he had heard anything at all. Barret clearly hadn't heard anything, for he was looking at Cloud with an impatient look on his angry face, irritated with the way Cloud was wasting time, time that they didn't have very much of.

"What's wrong?" Barret demanded furiously. Cloud looked up and blinked and then with a confused and perplexed look on his face said, "Huh?" "What's wrong, Cloud, hurry up!" Barret ordered him, growing even more irritated at Cloud's stalling. "Yeah... sorry," Cloud apologised.

He shook his head again and blinked. The feeling had disappeared now, and he could no longer hear the dreadful and terrifying whistling in his ears. Whatever it was that had startled him so suddenly had gone now. Barret was becoming more intolerant of him by the second, so Cloud walked forward towards the reactor. Barret reached into his pocket and pulled out a small device, and passed it to Cloud. It was a bomb, one that clearly had been made by AVALANCHE themselves, and not one they had got professionals to make. Jessie was an expert in those kinds of matters such as bombs and other technological things, and she had made this bomb herself. It was small and fragile, but would be very effective against the reactor. Cloud took the makeshift device and knelt down beside the reactor.

He placed the bomb at the foot of the reactor, pushing it right against the wall in its darkest spot so that hopefully no one would spot it and disarm it before it could go off. There was a small keypad on the front of the bomb, to input a time limit. Cloud typed in 10 mins. Ten minutes would be all they needed to make their way out of the reactor again, giving time to fight off any security that came their way.

All of a sudden, a loud siren went off, ringing loudly throughout the reactor chamber, the sound waves bouncing off the walls making a very loud noise. Barret looked up in surprise as a red light flooded the chamber. They should've known planting the bomb on the reactor wasn't going to be that easy. A loud grating noise suddenly began to reverberate throughout the chamber, and Cloud stood up and looked behind him. "Heads up, here they come!" shouted Barret.

Coming down the corridor towards them was a rather large-looking robot. It looked like a giant, chunky scorpion made of red and orange metal, standing on two thick legs that ended in pointy tips, digging into the metal grating as it stomped its way down the path towards Barret and Cloud. Over its chest was a metal plate bearing a searchlight, which was waving around frantically as it searched for the intruders. Its face was just a chunk of metal with flashing lights on the front, but rising up behind the robot was a large metal tail that was relaxed at that moment, and was tipped with a laser. Apart from SOLDIER, this was Shinra's most deadly weapon: a Roboguard and this make of Roboguard, Cloud recognized as a Guard Scorpion.

Barret raised his arm and cocked the gun embedded there his Gatling Gun, filling its chamber with a number of bullets. Cloud reached up behind him and drew his Buster Sword, holding it strongly in front of him with both hands.

The Scorpion came storming up towards them, guided by its searchlight as it swept over the two intruders. It stopped on the path just a few metres away from where they were, and spread its arms wide. The robot was so huge that it blocked the path completely, leaving Cloud and Barret with no means of escape, forcing them to fight.

Barret lifted his arm and aimed his Gatling Gun at the Guard Scorpion. The Gun was attached to certain nerves in his arm that allowed him to control the gun without a trigger, and as Barret desired it the gun suddenly fired, releasing a chain of bullets into the air. The bullets hit the Scorpion's hard plated surface and penetrated instantly, ripping their way through the metal towards the robot's inner circuitry. The Scorpion shuddered violently as the bullets hit it, and fell to its knees, but it wasn't defeated that easily.

The Scorpion pushed itself back up and dug its pointed feet hard into the metal grating. In return the Scorpion popped open a plate on its chest, revealing a small gun. The Scorpion fired at Barret. Hurriedly Barret jumped back to dodge the bullets, and Cloud dodged swiftly to the side. The bullets sailed past and hit the floor around the reactor. Large holes were punched through the metal as the bullets collided, missing Barret only by inches. Barret found himself cornered in the corner of the reactor, with Scorpion staring at him angrily through its flashing lights.

Barret was safer than he realised, though. The Scorpion knew that it couldn't fire on the reactor because it was programmed not to, so it couldn't fire on Barret while he was there. It hesitated for a second, and then began to turn a little towards the other viable target: Cloud.

Cloud lifted his Buster Sword up and held it in front of him, grasping the handle tightly in both his hands. The Scorpion turned towards him, although it was unable to move much because it was in the slim width of the metal path. However it turned just enough to face Cloud, and raised its long metal tail up in the air. Once it was raised up above its head it stiffened and began to quiver slightly, as though trembling in anticipation.

Cloud did not move, for he knew what the Roboguard was doing. He glanced over towards Barret, who was just raising his gun-arm to fire on the robot while it seemed frozen. "Barret, be careful," Cloud warned him hurriedly. "Don't attack while its tail's up! It's gonna counterattack with its laser."

Barret glared at Cloud with an angry/ concerned look. He was still unsure as to whether he could trust him or not, since he was a former enemy. Cloud looked back at Barret with a serious look in his eye, and Barret finally listened and withdrew, and together they waited as the robot stood in front of them, its tail poised.

Finally, the tail began to slacken and fall back down behind the robot, and the Roboguard finally began to relax a little. Straight away Barret raised his gun-arm and fired a series of bullets at the Scorpion, and it made a hideous screaming sound as the bullets struck its hard armour. It even withdrew a little, though not by much, for it was surprised by the attack, and not harmed.

Cloud turned to Barret and signalled for him to cover him. Barret caught Cloud's signal and nodded his head, and watched as Cloud turned to the Guard Scorpion. The ex-SOLDIER spun his sword behind him and put it back in its strap on his back. He then turned to the robot and ran forward, falling on his back as the Scorpion swung one of its arms round to hit him. It missed Cloud by inches, and he skidded on the metal ground until he was underneath the Scorpion's body. As soon as Cloud was safely underneath the robot Barret began to fire again, and more screeching screams came from it as the bullets hit their targets.

Underneath the robot, Cloud found himself looking up at the underside of the Scorpion. He flipped open a small hatch on the underside of the robot to where the main controls was hidden. Inside there were a number of flashing lights. While the Scorpion shuddered and stamped its feet around him, Cloud began to press a few of the buttons, trying to find the one that would deactivate the robot. Eventually he found it, and pushed it.

There was a huge sigh from the Guard Scorpion as its power supply was cut off, and it sagged suddenly against the ground, nearly crushing Cloud as he slid out from under it. The Scorpion's arms fell down onto the ground, and the lights on its 'face' went dark and empty. Now the Scorpion was like a corpse blocking their path, no longer a threat. Barret went over to the Guard Scorpion and looked it over, a look of disgust on his face. He suddenly kicked the robot angrily. A Gun came out from the Scorpion which Barret recognized as an Assault Gun which was more powerful than his initial Gatling Gun, so he immediately switched the two.

The alarm was still blaring loudly around them. There was no doubt now that the soldiers in the building knew where they were, and it would only be a matter of time before soldiers came to take the place of their fallen Guard Scorpion. Cloud looked at Barret. "Come on, let's get outta here," he said. Barret looked back at him and nodded.

He and Barret both clambered over the powerless Scorpion, and began to run down the corridor back the way they came, heading for the exit. There was only about ten minutes left on the bomb they had set, and no doubt Jessie, Biggs and Wedge would be getting extremely anxious with the building ready to blow at any minute.

The two threw themselves on the ladder and began to climb up at top speed to Jessie's lookout spot. As they reached the top Barret immediately turned and ran for the next ladder to head out of the building. Cloud was about to follow him, when he suddenly saw a slight movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned back and saw Jessie still standing by her lookout. She had her back turned to him and appeared to be tugging on something.

"You all right?" Cloud asked, running over to her. As he neared her he saw that Jessie had caught her leg in a piece of broken metal grating, and she was trying to tug it free. "My leg got stuck," Jessie replied, and Cloud unsheated his sword and cut around where Jesse's leg was stuck and then grabbed her leg and pulled it out. It came away quickly, and Jessie stood up. "Thanks."

Cloud and Jessie then turned and began to follow Barret up the ladder. Barret, of course, was already out of the building and halfway up the stairs towards the lift. As he expected there were a few soldiers running down the stairs after him now, but Barret very easily disposed of them, either by shooting them with his gun-arm or simply by throwing them over the sides of the stairs. Even as Cloud and Jessie followed further down, they had to fend off the soldiers coming up the stairs. None of them wanted to be in that building when it blew.

They eventually made it to the lift. Barret ran in first, followed by Cloud and Jessie. Jessie ran straight to the button and pushed it repeatedly to make it go up, and the lift doors shut tight as the lift began to shakily go up. As the lift went up Jessie looked at her watch impatiently, counting off the seconds in her head. She glanced up at Cloud and gave a shaky smile. She was anxious, but was still enjoying the thrill of what she was doing and her whole body was pumped with adrenaline.

The lift finally stopped and the three poured out onto the corridor. Biggs was waiting for them at the end, standing by the door that had shut as the alarm sounded. Jessie tore on ahead of Cloud and Barret and rapidly punched in the code to open the door. It was a different code now, but she had done her research well and was prepared for any code as the system had only two codes for each lock.

"Code deciphered!" she shouted over the sound of the siren. The doors opened and they all fell through as they were hastily trying to get out of the reactor in time. Biggs ran to the next door and punched in his own code. "Code deciphered!" he yelled as the doors opened, and the group ran through.

The AVALANCHE members darted out of the room and back onto the T-Junction corridor. Wedge was still waiting for them impatiently at the door on the opposite side to where they came in, looking around anxiously as the alarm sounded around him. He looked up in relief and sighed as he saw the others running his way, and he kicked open the door to let them through.

One by one the group dashed through the door, with only a few seconds left before the bomb would blow. As they ran Jessie suddenly was knocked over by Barret who was running hastily trying to get out before the reactor exploded. Jessie fell onto the ground, lying stunned until a pair of strong arms suddenly pulled her roughly up off the ground. It was Cloud. Once she was up she began to run again, with Cloud close behind her, and through the door.

As they ran through the door a loud explosion occurred from within the building they had just left, and a giant ball of flames suddenly burst through the doors and into the corridor as the bomb exploded. The entire building shook violently as though struck by an earthquake.

Then the main explosion occurred. Outside the reactor suddenly exploded, sending a large sonicboom of energy hurtling through the air and across the city of Midgar. A ball of flames rose up into the air, followed by a mushroom-shaped cloud of smoke. The smoke rose quickly into the air, blending into the dark land around it. Bits of metal from the exploded reactor fell out around the sector where it had been built, and down into the city below. No doubt the whole city heard the explosion, and the flames could be seen for miles around.

**Author's Note: That's Chapter 2 done. I apologise if anyone doesn't like what I did with Barret knocking Jessie over but when I first played the game and I am playing the game now and it still looks like it to me. Hope you enjoyed the chapter and I will try to update on either Sunday, Monday or Tuesday. Till next time, Connor Fantasy.**


	3. Reunion at Sector 8

Final Fantasy VII

Part One: Midgar

Chapter 3: Reunion at Sector 8

As the explosion calmed down, Cloud and the members of AVALANCHE stood silently in a corridor, still inside the reactor, this part was the edge of the reactor that wasn't destroyed by the explosion. The force of the explosion had caused the reactor to be completely ripped apart, and a large chunk of it had fallen down in front of them, crushing part of the corridor and blocking their exit. At that moment Jessie was on her knees with a smaller, less violent bomb, and was busy applying on to the wreckage. The others all stood around her in silence, contemplating over the humongous act they had just done and what the aftermath could be.

"That should keep the Planet going," Biggs said suddenly, breaking the silence. The others looked at him. "At least a little longer." "Yeah!" Wedge said enthusiastically. Barret crossed his arms and looked down towards the ground. "..." He muttered silently.

Cloud leaned against the wall with his own arms crossed. He made a darting glance towards Barret. The AVALANCHE leader was completely silent, and had remained so since the bomb exploded. Cloud thought at first maybe Barret was having regrets over what he had just done, but as he saw a small smile of relief cross his face, Cloud knew that he did not regret it. The explosion of the reactor would have caused a lot of damage to Shinra and what the public thought of them, and Barret seemed glad to know that.

Just then, Jessie stood up. "Okay," she said. "Now everyone, get back!" The group all jumped up and ran back into the corridor away from Jessie's bomb. Moments later the bomb exploded, not as loudly or as destructively as the one that destroyed the reactor, but powerful enough to shatter the wreckage that blocked their way and revealed the exit. The doorway was now surrounded by a wall of flames made by the bomb, so the only way the group would get out of there was to jump through it.

Cloud was the first to jump out. He flipped out of the door and rolled quickly onto the ground to put out any flames that may have caught him as he jumped through. Once he was sure that there were no flames on him, he stood up and turned back.

Barret was the next to jump out of the door. Jessie and Biggs, who ran out with their arms shielding their faces from the flames, followed him closely. Wedge came out last. As he ran out he patted the back of his trousers rapidly, a line of smoke rising from them where they had caught fire. He patted the small spark of fire until it went out, and then he turned to Barret.

"All right, now let's get out of here!" Barret said suddenly. "Rendezvous at the Sector 8 station. Split up and get on the train." Biggs, Wedge and Jessie nodded, and then turned and ran off in different directions towards the sector, continuing their separation techniques to avoid any suspicion. Barret waited until the three were out of sight before he too began to run away.

"H-Hey!" Cloud protested suddenly. Barret stopped on the stairs near to where they stood, and looked back at Cloud. "If it's about your money, save it 'til we're back at the hideout," he replied. The harsh tone was still in his voice as he spoke to Cloud. Even after all they had just done, Barret still did not trust Cloud, not that Cloud could either care or bother to listen to. So Cloud just stood there and before you know it, Barret was off and away up the stairs towards the nearby sector, following his comrades.

Cloud waited a minute or so before he followed. He walked up the stairs that led up into the sector, and looked out at the aftermath of the explosion. There was complete panic and disarray in the sector right before his eyes, just as Cloud expected. The explosion of the reactor had caused a panic in the city, and there were many people running around madly in fright as they wondered what had just happened to them.

Wreckage from the blown up reactor lay everywhere on the streets, and had even destroyed some of the buildings. The old theatre in the sector centre was in ruins, and everything had come to a complete stop. A giant chunk of the reactor was still lying smouldering in the sector centre, and it was here that the people were running around the most, crying out to each other as they tried to figure out what was going on.

As they looked up towards the spot where the reactor had once been, they could see that it was on fire. Clouds of smoke were billowing up into the air in giant gushes, and flames were still covering the broken cylinder. The explosion of the reactor had caused a power cut throughout the city and it was very dark indeed.

The young flower lady was still standing on the street corner beside the theatre, looking around in bewilderment as she tried to figure out what was going on around her, although she was much calmer than the rest of the citizens. A man suddenly ran into her as he ran past in a panic, and she fell back onto the floor.

As she stood up and brushed herself off, wiping away the dirt, she spotted Cloud as he walked past, trying to look casual amongst the panicked people. She quickly ran over to him. "Excuse me," she said in a delicate voice. Cloud stopped and turned to her. "What happened?" she asked.

For a moment Cloud nearly panicked, unsure of what he should say to the woman without her arousing suspicion that he had anything to do with the explosion. As he looked into her face he felt something strangely peculiar about her. There was a strange feeling emanating from her, something he couldn't quite pinpoint. She looked very kind and gentle, and her brown eyes were very calming and almost spiritual. She seemed very innocent, and not the type of person he expected to see in a rough and run down sector such as this one.

"Nothing..." Cloud told her plainly. At that point he should have walked away, but for some reason he felt almost compelled to say something. "Hey, listen... uh..." The woman looked at him inquisitively, and Cloud rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Don't see many flowers around here," he said finally.

The woman blinked at him, confused. Then she looked down at her basket. "Oh these?" she asked. "Do you like them? They're only a gil..." She looked at him hopefully. Cloud reached into his pocket and pulled out a two that he had kept, and passed them to the girl. "Oh, thank you!" she said. She put the two coins in her pocket, and then took two different flowers from her basket – one pink, the other blue – and handed them over to Cloud. "Here you are," she said, and Cloud took the flowers.

Before he could say anything else the woman was walking off. Cloud watched her as she walked away from him, still feeling that peculiar feeling about her. He did not know what that feeling was, but he was certain that there was something about that girl. He shrugged, dismissing the feeling, and continued to head through the sector towards the station.

By now the people were beginning to settle down, and the streets were a little quieter than they were a few minutes before. There were only a couple of people wandering around now, and they were no longer running in a blind panic. Even the power was beginning to return now as Shinra reconnected the power lines through another reactor, so things were gradually beginning to return to normal.

Cloud left the open street and carried on down the alleyway towards the train station where they were supposed to meet. By now the streets were completely abandoned and no one was around, as far as Cloud could see. "Hey! You there!"

Cloud stopped in surprise, realising that he wasn't alone after all. He turned to look behind him, and saw two soldiers dressed in blue uniforms walking towards him. They each had rifles in their hands, and were advancing on Cloud slowly.

"Shinra Soldiers!" Cloud cursed. He quickly turned and ran down the street away from the soldiers. "Halt!" one of the soldiers shouted, but Cloud continued to run.

Seeing this, the two soldiers raised their rifles and began to fire at Cloud, for they had seen him as suspicious the moment they laid eyes on him. Cloud could feel the bullets striking the ground at his feet – they weren't trying to hit him, but to make him stop. He reached the end of the street and turned sharply right to the next street.

As he turned, he quickly skidded to a stop. There were two more Shinra soldiers standing directly ahead of him, also with rifles that were aimed at him. Quickly Cloud turned around and headed the other way, and the soldiers began to chase him. Cloud only managed to run a few steps before another two soldiers burst into the street directly ahead of him, blocking off his only escape route. Turning back he could see the other four soldiers advancing on him, and on the other side the two soldiers ahead were also advancing, their rifles raised and ready to fire. Cloud had no way to go, so instead he backed off slowly towards the edge of the bridge that was behind him – overlooking the railway. The sound of the train's horn could be heard faintly as Cloud found himself cornered at the edge of the bridge, the six soldiers surrounding him in a semi circle.

"That's as far as you go," one of the soldiers said smugly. Each of the soldiers had their guns raised, ready to fire if Cloud made any other attempts to escape.

"I don't have time to be messin' around with you guys," Cloud protested, but it was useless trying to fool the soldiers. They knew he had been up to something.

"Enough babbling. Grab him!" the soldier commanded. The soldiers then began to advance once more, and Cloud had nowhere to run. The sound of the train's horn came again, this time much louder, followed by the sound of the train on the tracks in the tunnel below. Cloud opened his eyes wide as he had an idea.

Quickly he turned and stepped up onto the edge of the bridge away from the soldiers. Realising his plan the soldiers quickly dashed forward, but couldn't stop Cloud as he jumped off the edge of the bridge, just as the train appeared from the tunnel below.

Cloud landed on the top of the train and balanced steadily as it sped away from the sector. It moved hurriedly away from the bridge where the six soldiers were cursing loudly at his escape, and could only watch as the train disappeared into the next tunnel ahead of them, carrying Cloud with it.

The other AVALANCE members meanwhile, were inside the cargo hold of the train, after they had quietly snuck aboard before the train left the station. They had waited as long as they could for Cloud, but eventually had to board to avoid being caught by the soldiers that were roaming the sector for them. As such they were very quiet and sombre as they stood in the last car of the train, imagining the worst for Cloud. Barret was the only one who didn't look worried. Instead, he had a frown on his face.

"Cloud never came," Wedge spoke up suddenly, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had fallen upon them. "Cloud..." Biggs muttered quietly, concerned. He looked up. "Wonder if he was killed?" "No way!" Barret snapped irritably, before turning back to look at the floor, his arms folded. Jessie sighed heavily. "Cloud..." she whispered. She wanted to thank him for helping her, for she would most certainly have been killed in the explosion if Cloud had not stopped to help her – twice.

Just then the sound of a loud scrambling sounded throughout the car. Curious, the four AVALANCHE members looked up and glanced at one another, trying to discover who had made the strange noise. The looks on their faces suggested that none of them did, and so they turned their gazes back to the floor, their expressions turning back to sorrow and concern. A few seconds later Biggs looked up once more, and turned to Barret.

"Say, do you think Cloud's... going to fight to the end for AVALANCHE?" he asked hopefully. The irritation on Barret's face showed as plain as day. "The hell would I know!?" he barked angrily. He clearly didn't even like to hear Cloud's name. "Do I look like a mind reader!?"

Suddenly he unfolded his arms and banged his fist hard on a nearby crate, hitting it so hard it shook. "Hmph! If y'all weren't such screw-ups." "Hey, Barret," Wedge piped up, trying to change the subject. "What about our money?" Another single thud on the crate from Barret made Wedge shrink back nervously. "Uh... nothin', sorry..." 

Gradually the four members of AVALANCHE sighed once more, and continued to stand in silence as they listened to the train travelling rapidly on the rails, thinking once more about what could have happened to Cloud.

At that moment a loud knocking noise suddenly reverberated throughout the car, and the four looked up at each other again. Realising that none of them had made the sound they looked down at the ground again. The knocking noise then came again – louder than before and seeming to come from the outside of the car. Still the AVALANCHE members did not notice this, and continued to stare at the floor. Finally the door leading out of the car opened up to reveal the tunnel wall that was zipping past. Then a figure suddenly flipped in from the train roof, and landed with a thud on the ground in the middle of the car. Jessie gasped in delight as she saw the figure standing there. Dirty though he was, covered in soot, it was Cloud.

"Cloud!" she exclaimed, along with Biggs and Wedge.

Slowly Cloud stood up and began to brush the layers of soot that had gathered on his arms and clothing after he had scrabbled across the roof of the train, trying to find the car where the AVALANCHE members were hidden. When he finished he flicked his blond hair and looked around at the relieved faces of the AVALANCHE crew.

"Looks like I'm a little late," he commented plainly. Only Barret did not look relieved at Cloud's safe arrival. The look on his face grew even more angry and frustrated as Cloud stood there, seeming to ignore the worry that he had just put everyone through. His fist shook angrily in anticipation of hitting Cloud, and was barely able to contain his anger.

"You damn right you're late!" he shouted at Cloud heatedly, unable to see how Cloud was acting so cool about it. "Come waltzin' in here, makin' a big scene!" Cloud held out his hands and shook his head. "It's no big deal. Just what I always do."

"Shi't!" Barret swore loudly, losing his temper with Cloud. "Having everyone worried like that, you don't give a damn 'bout no one but yourself!" Cloud shrugged dismissively. Then a strange smirk spread across his face as he looked at Barret almost tauntingly.

"Hmm... You were worried about me?" "Wha!" Barret raged, thrashing his arms through the air. For a moment it looked as though he was going to hit Cloud there and then, but he managed to calm himself just in time, although his temper was still flared. "I'm takin' it out of your money, hot stuff!" He turned quickly and headed towards the door leading into the next train car. "Wake up! We're movin' out! Follow me."

With that, Barret pushed open the door of the car and headed out, leaving Cloud and the rest of AVALANCHE behind him, although he left the door open. Wedge was the first to push himself up off the crate he had been sitting on, and walked to Cloud.

"Hey, Cloud, you were great back there," he commented, before he turned and walked through the door after Barret. Once he was gone Biggs walked to Cloud.

"Heh, heh, Cloud! We'll do even better next time," he said, and he also walked through the door. Jessie was the only one remaining in the car with Cloud. She waited for a few moments as her two colleagues disappeared through the door, before she pushed herself away from the wall and headed towards the open door leading into the tunnel.

"Be careful," she warned Cloud. "I'll shut this." Cloud watched as Jessie pulled the lever that released the door, and pushed it shut. When she was done she turned to Cloud, and looked him up and down carefully. A smile spread on her face as she did so, and nearly burst out laughing.

"Oh, Cloud!" she laughed. "Your face is pitch black!" Before Cloud could react she suddenly reached out and began to rub at his face with her hand, wiping away all the soot that had been smeared over him when he was on the roof. When she had got most of it off she pulled away and smiled.  
"There you go," she said. She then walked past Cloud, heading for the other door, when she suddenly stopped and looked back at him with another gentle smile. "Say, thanks for helping me back there at the reactor." Then she passed through the door, leaving Cloud alone in the cargo car. He waited for a moment before he finally walked through the door towards the next car.

**Author's Note: That's Chapter 3 done. Sorry for the long wait. I'll hopefully have chapters 4 and 5 up today as well or at least chapter 4 today and 5 tommorow. Thanks for reading and please review. Till next time, Connor Fantasy.**


	4. Train Ride and The Hideout

Final Fantasy VII

Part One: Midgar

Chapter 4: Train Ride and The Hideout

The next car was quiet and almost empty, with just a couple of strangely dressed people who looked like punks at the far end, a man in a posh suit holding onto the rails looking sick, and a few layabouts with no real place to go, almost seeming to be making their home in the train itself. It was quiet, until the speaker on the wall crackled into life, and a computerised voice spoke out to them.

"Last train out of Sector Eight station. Last stop is Sector 7, Train Graveyard. Expected Time of Arrival is 12:23am, Midgar Standard Time."

At that point the door at the far end of the car opened and in came AVALANCHE. Jessie, Biggs and Wedge all stormed into the centre of the car and looked around, their fists clenched and ready for a challenge. Upon their entry the two punks jumped in fright and quickly charged out of the car. Barret then entered the car and quite confidently and arrogantly sat himself down on one of the seats, his arms spread out across the top to mark his territory. Shakily the man in the suit released the rail he was clinging to, and turned away.

"This is why I hate the last train," he mumbled quietly to himself. "Hoo- boy." He then walked out of the car, in the hope of a less threatening place to sit. Only the layabouts and unnecessary people remained in the car, and seemed to ignore the group as they made themselves comfortable in the car. One particular man was reading a paper to avoid looking at the group, and as he read he suddenly turned to his companion next to him and showed him the recently printed article.

"See the headlines in the Shinra Times?" he asked. "The terrorists that bombed the Number One Reactor are based somewhere in the slums. Blowing up a Reactor... They sure put some thought into this one. They must have a real calculating leader." Barret looked up upon hearing that, although he tried to look nonchalant. "I wonder what they'll do next..."

Just then the man looked up and spotted Cloud standing next to him, who had also been listening to the conversation. He gave Cloud a curious look, and Cloud quickly turned his head away to avoid his gaze. He quickly walked down the aisle, where Barret suddenly reached out and grabbed Cloud's arm, pulling him harshly close to him and whispered sharply down his ear.

"Stop acting like a damn kid!" he ordered Cloud roughly. "Si'down and shu'up!" Just as roughly Cloud wrenched his arm free out of Barret's strong grasp and continued down the aisle to where Biggs, Wedge and Jessie were standing casually. Barret glared at Cloud for a few more seconds before turning away, his face glaring angrily at the people around him.

"It seems as though this train hasn't switched to security mode yet," Biggs said suddenly, and Cloud turned to him. Biggs was leaning against the wall, glancing out of the window and watching the tunnel zip past them like a blur. He turned to Cloud. "I'm sure that will change by tomorrow." He smiled knowingly, when all of a sudden he yawned loudly. "That sure took its toll on me... I'm gonna sleep till we get back to the station."

With that Biggs crossed his arms and leaned heavily against the wall, closing his eyes and relaxing for the rest of the journey. Cloud turned to the other side of the train, where Wedge and Jessie were stood. Wedge was holding onto the rail nervously, while Jessie was staring blankly at a computer screen in front of her. As though sensing that Cloud was watching, Wedge suddenly turned around to face him.

"Someday, AVALANCHE is gonna be famous – and me, too!" he said excitedly. "Cloud, don't you think I've got a bright future ahead of me?" "What do you have in mind?" Cloud asked. Truthfully he didn't care what plans Wedge had for the future, for they were no doubt meaningless and probably wouldn't amount to anything. Still, Wedge seemed excited, and it seemed only fair to hear him out. Wedge smiled happily. "All my life I've felt like nothing but a sidekick. But after joining AVALANCHE and trying to save the Planet, I feel like I can do lots of things." He then turned away, and Jessie turned to him.

Wedge smiled happily. "All my life I've felt like nothing but a sidekick. But after joining AVALANCHE and trying to save the Planet, I feel like I can do lots of things." He then turned away, and Jessie turned to him.

"Hey, Cloud, you want to look at this with me?" she asked. "It's a map of the Midgar Rail System. Let's look at it together. I'll explain it to you. I like this kind of stuff. Bombs and monitors... you know, flashy stuff."

Cloud walked up next to her, and Jessie showed him the blank computer screen. As he stood beside her she reached out and pushed one of the buttons below the screen. "Okay, it's about to start," she said.

As she spoke the screen came to life, and a 3D graphic image of Midgar appeared. It showed the whole circular shape of the city, as well as its top plates and underground cities. "This is a complete model of the city of Midgar," Jessie explained, sounding like an auditor giving a speech to a group of tourists. "It's about a 1/10,000 scale. The top plate is about 50 metres above ground. A main support structure holds the plates up in the centre and there are other support structures built in each section."

She suddenly leaned in close to Cloud and whispered quietly into his ear. "The No. 1 reactor we blew up was in the Northern section. Then there's No. 2, No. 3, all the way up to the No. 8 reactor. The eight reactors provide Midgar with electricity. Each town used to have a name, but no one in Midgar remembers them. Instead of names, we refer to them by numbered sectors. That's the kind of place this is." She sighed and turned to the screen. "Phew, this is next, look."

The screen in front of them flashed as a new image appeared on the screen. The screen appeared to zoom in on a particular part of the city map – in particular the sectors that the train was currently travelling through. A number of white dots began to appear on the map, following a strict route from one sector to the other.

"This is the route the train is on," Jessie continued, indicating the white dots. "The route spirals about the main support structure, we should be coming around the centre area, right now. At each checkpoint an ID sensor device is set up. It can check the identities and backgrounds of each and every passenger on the train by linking it up to the control data bank at Shinra Headquarters."

She leaned in once more to whisper to Cloud. "Anyone could tell that we look suspicious, so we're using fake ID's." Her speech was cut short as a bright red light suddenly flashed throughout the car, followed by a faint beeping noise. Cloud jumped and looked up as the red light swept over everything and everyone in the car, but he could see that he was the only one reacting to it. Jessie laughed at his reaction, and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Speak of the devil..." she commented. "That light means we're in the ID security check area. When the lights go off, you never know what kind of creeps'll come out. Anyhow, we're almost back now, that's a relief..." She paused for a moment, thinking hard, until she clicked her fingers. "I know, next time I'll give you one I made myself."

"Looking forward to it," said Cloud. "Okay, then I'll put a little extra effort in, and make it with a BANG!" Jessie said excitedly, seeming to get fired up at the prospect of making Cloud a fake ID. "We're almost there. After talking with you, I really want to do it. I think you've lit my fuse!"

She turned away back to the computer, still looking eager and excited. Cloud just shook his head and turned away from her, thinking she was extremely strange. He walked back to the main aisle, where Barret had turned to look out of the train window, and was looking up.

"Look, you can see the surface now," he said solemnly. "This city don't have no day or night. If that plate weren't there, we could see the sky." Cloud walked over to where Barret was sat and leaned over to look out of the window. Looking through he could see the various beams that criss- crossed above them. Beyond that there was a dark sky of dark grey-black metal, which was the surface of Midgar. On top of that plate would be the upper parts of the city, where the richer people of Midgar bought actual houses above the plate, where they could see the sky. They had started off above that black plate, but now the train had taken them well beneath it into the deeper and murkier depths of the city. The plate really did look like a kind of black sky, and without the clock inside the train, it would be impossible to guess whether it was day or night above.

"A floating city..." Cloud whispered quietly. "Pretty unsettling scenery." "Huh?" Barret asked, looking at Cloud in surprise. "Never expect to hear that out of someone like you. You jes' full of surprises." He stood up and walked towards his comrades. "The upper world... a city on a plate... It's cause of that &%# 'pizza' that people are suffering. And the city below is full of polluted air. And on top of that, the reactor keeps drainin' up all the energy!"

Cloud pushed himself away from the window and looked at Barret. "Then why doesn't everyone move onto the plate?" he asked. Barret shrugged. "Dunno," he admitted. "Probably cause they ain't got no money. Or maybe... cause they love their land, no matter how polluted it gets."

"I know," Cloud agreed, looking down. "No one lives in the slums because they want to. It's like this train, it can't run anywhere except where its rails take it."

With that Cloud turned once more to the window and looked out at the dark plate that blotted out the sky. Barret was right about the pollution – the lower cities of Midgar were very polluted, and there was no fresh air from above. There was only the murkiness that came from the workings of the cities above, and the people below the plate were struggling to find jobs to keep themselves fed and clothes. Cloud couldn't help but pity them, and that was Barret's only justification for doing what he did.

The train continued to rail on along its tracks because, as Cloud had said, it was the only route it could take. It wasn't much longer to Sector 7 where they would be getting off – the train spiralled fairly quickly around the main support structure of the city before spinning off towards the Sector 7 slums.

Eventually the train pulled slowly into the station and its doors opened, letting all its passengers off. The two punks and the suit-dressed man got off first and headed off away from the station towards their homes, which were most likely self-built. The AVALANCHE members climbed off the train last, of course, and continued to try and look natural as they got off, looking around constantly. Barret and Cloud were the last to get off, and Barret looked around at them angrily.

"Yo! Get over here, all'ya!" he ordered sharply. All at once the three AVALANCHE members jumped to attention and swiftly dashed over towards Barret. Clearly no one liked to get on Barret's bad side, and did exactly as they were told when they were told to. As they all gathered around him, Barret folded his arms.

"This mission was a success, but don't get lazy now," he warned his comrades sternly. "The hard part's still to come. Don't y'all be scared of that explosion... Cause the next one's gonna be bigger than that!"

With that he ran off a little down the train platform, before stopping and turning back to his companions.

"Meet back at the hideout. Move out!" In an instant the AVALANCHE group split. Jessie, Biggs and Wedge all parted from each other and began to make their way separately down the platform towards the slums, carrying out the same tactic that they did at the reactor. They were indeed a very cautious group, and with good reason. They had just blown up a reactor, and it was now imperative that they seemed natural, and so not to be suspected of anything underhanded. Cloud, unlike the others, simply walked back towards the slums.

The Sector 7 slums were indeed in a very bad condition. The ground was thick with dirt that had been pressed down into a form of ground, and the houses built in the sector had indeed been made by hand – built out of various scraps of metal that had been collected over time. The air was very dry and coarse, and Cloud could taste the pollution in his mouth.

Not that the people of the sector could notice it anymore. The people that were wandering around in the sector hardly noticed the murky smell anymore – they had lived in it for so long they had gotten used to it. Even the kids that played about on the street ran about without noticing the dryness of the air. Most likely these kids had never seen the above plate, and probably they never would.

Up ahead the AVALANCHE members had gathered together outside a building at the far end of the sector. Like everything else in the slums it was a handmade building, with a sign that was surprisingly made out of lighting tubes, and spelled out the words 'Tifa's 7th Heaven' on the front.

At that moment Barret was running up the steps of the building, and he pushed open the saloon-like doors as he ran inside. Moments later there was the sound of gunfire, and a series of people fled from the building in a fright. Barret burst out moments later, ranting and raving angrily about them being in his territory. Some of the punks shouted abuse back at Barret, but when Barret raised his gun-arm once more they immediately fled as fast as they could. Barret then walked down the steps of the bar and stood at the bottom like a guard.

As Cloud slowly approached the bar, the saloon doors opened once again as a young woman walked out and quickly began to usher Biggs, Wedge and Jessie inside. She was fairly young, perhaps a year younger than Cloud was, with long brown hair and dressed in a smart T-shirt and a short black skirt – almost quite delicate looking. She looked up as Cloud approached and gave him a brief smile, before she hurried into the bar after the three AVALANCHE members.

"Heh, heh," Barret sniggered suddenly as Cloud stopped next to him. "You wanna meet your little baby?" Cloud snapped his head round to look at Barret. "'Little baby'?" he repeated sternly. Barret grinned slyly. "Hey, don't act like you don't know what I mean. I'm telling you..." He stopped suddenly and looked around. All the punks had scattered for now, and the area around the bar was empty. "Okay, go on ahead," he ordered.

Cloud did as he was told and walked up to the bar, pushing back the saloon doors and going inside. Inside the other three members of AVALANCHE were already relaxing – sitting at a table with drinks in their hand as they recovered from their strenuous job. Jessie and Biggs were talking amongst themselves as they drank, while Wedge was downing his drink thirstily, whilst at the same time eating food that had been left over by the previous customers.

"Papa!" a little voice shouted suddenly. Cloud jumped in surprise as a little girl in a pink dress suddenly ran towards him, her arms spread wide in joy. As the girl spotted Cloud she suddenly skidded to a stop, and her face went bright red. Very quickly she turned around and ran off into a nearby corner, hiding her face as she began to sob sorrowfully into her dress. The woman Cloud had seen outside, her name was Tifa – the owner of the bar – quickly ran out from behind the bar and went to comfort the girl.

"Marlene, aren't you going to say anything to Cloud?" she asked the young girl softly. The woman then stood up and walked confidently over to Cloud. The young girl called Marlene walked with her, hiding behind her and clutching at her skirt as she waved nervously to Cloud, her face still red and wet with tears.  
"Welcome home, Cloud," Tifa said pleasantly to Cloud. "Looks like everything went well. Did you fight with Barret?" "Not this time," Cloud told her plainly.

"Hmm..." Tifa muttered thoughtfully, thinking hard. "You've grown up. When you were little you used to get into fights at the drop of a hat."

Cloud scratched the back of his head anxiously. Tifa seemed to think for a few moments more, before she suddenly spotted the two flowers that Cloud had clutched in his hand, which he was still holding after he bought them from the lady in Sector 8.

"Flowers?" Tifa asked in amazement. "How nice. You almost never see them here in the slums. But... A flower for me? Oh, Cloud, you shouldn't have!"

Cloud stared for a moment in bewilderment. He had almost forgotten about the flowers he'd bought. He hadn't intentionally bought them for Tifa, but he had nothing else to do with them. As he looked down he also saw that Marlene had her eye on the flowers as well, intrigued by the pretty colours the petals held. Cloud took one of the flowers and passed it to Tifa, who took it gladly.

"Thank you, Cloud," she said honestly. "It smells wonderful." She turned towards the rest of the bar. "Maybe I should fill the store with flowers." Beside her, Marlene was looking a little unhappy about Tifa receiving the flower. While Tifa was turned Cloud knelt down beside the young girl and held out the other flower. Marlene stared at it for a moment, before her face lit up until it beamed like a light bulb. She took the flower from Cloud, and quickly ran back to Tifa, hiding nervously once more behind her.

After that Cloud turned and headed to the door to find Barret and talk about his pay so he could get out of there. As he reached the door there came a loud thundering sound from outside. The saloon doors suddenly burst open, giving Cloud just barely enough time to jump back onto a nearby table out of the way as Barret stormed into the bar and looked around.

"Papa!" Marlene cried, running out from behind Tifa and towards Barret. "Welcome home!" "Yeah!" Barret said. His face softened just a little as he saw the young girl happily run to him. He knelt down and picked her up in his arms, placing her carefully on his shoulder. Then he spotted the flower. "Huh? Where'd you get that flower?"

"Cloud gave it to me." The softened look on Barret's face disappeared a little. "Oh... Did you thank him?" "..." Marlene muttered silently, her face going red with embarrassment. She twisted herself round on Barret's shoulder to look at Cloud. "Thank you, Cloud. We'll take care of you."

"Are you all right, Barret?" Tifa asked Barret, changing the conversation. "Great!" Barret replied with enthusiasm. Then he turned to the others. "Get in here, fools, we're startin' the meeting!"

With that Barret, with Marlene still on his shoulder, walked over to an old pinball machine at the far end of the bar. He pulled down the lever and the pinball machine suddenly began to move down through the floor to a secret room that was built underneath the bar, carrying Barret with it. One by one Jessie, Biggs and Wedge got up and followed him, jumping down through the hole to the hidden room. As they reached the bottom the pinball machine began to rise up again, and Cloud finally slipped off the table he'd been sat on.

"Sit down," Tifa said to Cloud, once again behind the bar. Cloud did as he was told and sat down in one of the stools in front of the bar. Tifa came over and leaned over the tabletop to Cloud. "How about... something to drink?"

"Give me something hard," Cloud said. "Just a minute. I'll make one for you." Tifa stood up and went to the other end of the bar, beginning to mix a drink that was one of her specialties. When she mixed the drink she shook it vigorously, before putting it on the table and sliding it down to Cloud, who caught it easily.

"You know, I'm relieved you made it back safely," Tifa said as she walked back to Cloud. Cloud sipped his drink and looked at Tifa in puzzlement. "What's with you all of a sudden? That wasn't even a tough job."  
"I guess not. You were in SOLDIER," Tifa admitted, as Cloud sipped his drink again. She looked up. "Make sure you get your pay from Barret." Cloud quickly downed his drink and put the glass on the table. "Don't worry," he assured her. "Once I get that money, I'm outta here."

The look on Tifa's face seemed to sadden a little as he said that, but Cloud didn't notice and got up out of his chair.

"Cloud. Are you feeling alright?" Tifa asked suddenly. Cloud turned to Tifa, cocking his head in his confusion. "...yeah... Why?" "No reason," Tifa said. "You just look a little tired I guess. You'd better go down below." Cloud nodded and went to the pinball machine. He pulled down the lever and went down towards the secret hideout of the rebel group AVALANCHE.

**Author's Note: That's Chapter 4, one more and I am all up to date. The thing is I wrote chapters 3, 4 and 5 but I kept forgetting to update them. I just need to make a few quick adjustments to Chapter 5 and it will be uploaded. Thanks for reading and please review. Till next time, Connor Fantasy. **


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